Response of B congenic chickens to infection with infectious bursal disease virus

Six congenic lines of chickens that differ from the parental inbred line RPRL-15I5 for genes in the major histocompatibility (B) complex were used to study the influence of the B haplotypes on the response of chickens to infection with virulent infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) at 1 day or 4 weeks of age, and on the antibody response to vaccination with live or inactivated oil-emulsion (OE) IBDV vaccines at 7 weeks of age. IBDV-induced immunodepression and lesions in the bursa, spleen, and thymus in chickens infected with virus at 1 day of age were of the same degree of severity, regardless of line of chickens used. The response of blood cells to the mitogens phytohemagglutinin-M and concanavalin A was elevated in chickens infected with IBDV at 1 day of age. In an experiment conducted to study the effect of the B haplotype on IBDV infection in 4-week-old chickens, B congenic line C-12 (B12B12) showed the highest susceptibility to clinical IBD, with mortality of 79%. No detectable difference in the serological response to vaccination with live or OE IBDV vaccines was noted among chickens of various congenic lines. We conclude that the B haplotypes may influence IBDV-induced mortality, but not immunodepression or severity of lesions in lymphoid organs, or the antibody response to live or OE IBDV vaccines.